Prominent pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has condemned in the strongest possible terms the suspension of Professor Nnamdi Nwaeze of Abia State University (ABSU), describing the action as an unacceptable attempt to weaponise administrative powers against a citizen exercising his constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression.

HURIWA in a statement issued on Saturday expressed alarm “that a university lecturer could be suspended because he publicly commented on the economic realities confronting professors, including his claim that some professors earn less than N400,000 monthly while some Keke riders earn more cumulatively.”

It said in the statement signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko: “Is telling the truth about workers’ economic hardship now a disciplinary offence in Abia State?

“If the figures are wrong, ABSU management should publish the correct figures and challenge the lecturer’s claims with facts. The answer to criticism in a democracy is not suspension. The answer is evidence, engagement and transparency.”

HURIWA said it considered the suspension particularly disturbing because universities are supposed to be citadels of learning, intellectual freedom and critical inquiry—not institutions where lecturers are expected to surrender their constitutional rights at the gate.

The association reminded the management of ABSU that Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and impart ideas and information without interference.

“HURIWA therefore demands the immediate and unconditional recall of Professor Nwaeze and calls on the university management to withdraw what appears to be a disproportionate punitive response to an expression of opinion.

“An investigative panel must not become a judicial theatre designed to intimidate or punish a lecturer whose views may have embarrassed the institution.

“We further warn the Abia State Government against allowing public institutions under its authority to develop a culture in which criticism is treated as insubordination and uncomfortable opinions are punished through administrative machinery,” the rights group said.

It noted that Abia State is not a police state, adding: “The university is not a detention centre. And a lecturer does not lose his constitutional rights because he works for a public institution.”

According to the statement, “HURIWA calls on the Governor of Abia State to immediately intervene and defend the fundamental freedoms of Professor Nwaeze. Silence from the government at this point could be interpreted as tacit approval of the suppression of free expression.

“The governor must demonstrate that Abia under his watch remains a state governed by constitutional democracy, not an environment where public officials and institutions deploy bureaucratic authority to silence inconvenient voices.

“HURIWA also challenges ABSU management to explain precisely what provision of the law or university regulations makes a professor’s public discussion of salaries and the economic welfare of academics an offence warranting suspension.

“You cannot preach democracy outside the university while suffocating freedom of expression inside it.

“HURIWA will closely monitor the proceedings of the investigative panel and will not hesitate to mobilise all lawful constitutional and human-rights mechanisms available to it should the university proceed with any action aimed at permanently punishing Professor Nwaeze for his protected speech.

“The right to speak does not belong only to those who praise government or university authorities. It belongs equally to those who ask uncomfortable questions.”